Today in Fire History 10/30

October 30th is Devil's Night, the night before Halloween is marked by petty vandalism. It is also referred to as "mischief night" in other parts of the world but remains associated with serious vandalism and arson. In Detroit, Michigan the crimes escalated becoming most destructive in Detroit's inner-city neighborhood. The destruction reached a peak in the mid- 1980s, with more than 800 arson fires set in the city in 1984.

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On 10/30/1972 a Lake City, Minnesota variety store gas-line explosion killed six and injured nine shortly before 5:00 p.m. “Several children were going in and out to collect prizes for a Halloween coloring contest when a gas line explosion leveled a variety store. Three of those killed in the accident Monday were children. Five other youngsters were among the injured. There were 10 to 15 people in the store when the explosion occurred. The operator of the two-story concrete block-brick Ben Franklin store and her widowed mother said both were standing near an entrance when the blast occurred. “There was the boom,” she said. "That's about it. That's all I want to say ... all I can say now." A Lake City representative for the Northern States Power Company said the explosion was triggered when a bulldozer working on a nearby power company construction project ruptured the power firm's gas main. Firefighting units from surrounding communities converged on the little industrial town which sits along the Mississippi River. Acrid smoke, persistent rain, and standing water hampered their efforts. The bodies of the two sales clerks were pulled out of the wreckage about three hours after the explosion.”

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On 10/30/1912 a San Antonio, Texas fire at the Saint John's (Catholic) Orphanage killed eight, including five Sisters of Charity who lost their lives attempting to save children, around 4:30 a.m. “The nuns gave their lives to save their charges. The death of Mother Mary of the Cross was as heroic as any of those at the head of a charge. She had come down from her room in the orphanage to the chapel on the first floor. There, mustering her little pupils when the fire broke out, she attempted to count them and learned that Francis O'Brien, a baby, was missing. ?

Without hesitation, she went back upstairs, found the boy, and struggled to a window with him in her arms. When about to be rescued by firefighters who were mounting ladders, she was overcome, fell back, and she and the little boy were seen no more until their blackened and charred bodies were taken from the ruins. "I do not see how any of the buildings escaped destruction," said Mother Superior Nativity of St. Joseph's infirmary, formerly at the Santa Rosa Infirmary, when informed of the fire Wednesday morning. "The Santa Rosa Infirmary and the dormitory for sisters adjoin one another. The orphanage is only 100 yards away. I cannot suggest as to the probable cause of the fire." "There are usually a dozen or fourteen children in the orphanage under the age of 3 years," she said. "The sisters naturally would see that the little ones were safe before thinking of themselves."

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On 10/30/1853 a fire was discovered around 6:00 a.m. at 121 Fulton Street in Manhattan, New York that claimed the lives of two firefighters when without warning the upper floors gave way and collapsed into the basement. The fire extended the length of Fulton Street and to Nassau Street. Fifteen firefighters were operating in the six-story corner building when the collapse occurred.

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On 10/30/1920 two Omaha, Nebraska firefighters “died from the injuries they sustained after being caught in a collapse at the Schmoeller-Mueller Piano Company fire, at 1108-10 Douglas Street.” The second firefighter died on December 4, 1928, from injuries he received in the collapse.

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On 10/30/1921 two Sacramento City, California firefighters “died while operating at Hippodrome Theatre fire.”

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On 10/30/1942 a Brooklyn, New York (FDNY) firefighter “died of smoke inhalation while operating at a single-alarm fire.”

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On 10/30/1951 a Saint Paul, Minnesota firefighter “worked to put out a chimney fire at this location and then spent 2 hours trying to move his fire truck from the scene after it had become stuck at 1400 Mechanic Avenue. He collapsed and died from a heart attack back at the fire station.”

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On 10/30/1960 a San Francisco, California firefighter “died after suffering a heart attack while operating at a fire.”

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On 10/30/1982 an Oceana, West Virginia firefighter “was killed while operating at a fire.”

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On 10/30/1991 two Neon, Kentucky firefighters died after being overrun by a wildfire. “It was a warm windy night, which became a major factor regarding the fire. Due to the magnitude of the incident, several departments responded to assist. A gas pocket built up in the area where four firefighters were working. It eventually erupted, and the men were overtaken by flames.

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On 10/30/2015 in Bucharest, Romania fifty-three people died from injuries and burns from a fire in the Colectiv nightclub after sparks ignited foam decor during a heavy-metal concert. Allegedly, the fire “started Friday night after on-stage pyrotechnics ignited structure columns around the stage covered in foam. According to reports, the entire ceiling was engulfed within seconds and fans rushed to the doors, causing a stampede.” Panicked occupants rushed for the single-door exit.

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On 10/30/2013 a bus fire killed forty-five near Hyderabad, India after its fuel tank caught fire at 5:10 a.m. The entire bus was engulfed in flames in a matter of minutes, the bus was traveling at high speed when its diesel fuel tank hit the roadside culvert and caught fire. Two weeks later seven people died, and forty others were injured in Karnataka in a second bus fire when a Mumbai-bound bus from Bangalore caught fire after hitting a road median.

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On 10/30/2012 in Pueblo, Colorado a man, a woman, and two children ages 2 years old and 3 months old died in a 2:00 a.m. house fire in the 1300 block of East 2nd Street. “The fire appears to have happened on the main level of the house.”

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On 10/30/2011 three men were killed in a grain elevator explosion in Atchison, Kansas. Atchison is about 50 miles northwest of Kansas City. “Over the past four decades, there have been more than 600 explosions at grain elevators, killing more than 250 people and injuring more than 1,000, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.”

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On 10/30/1992 a Woburn, Massachusetts Nursing Center explosion and fire resulted in the total evacuation 101-bed facility; twenty-one sprinklers operated, controlling the fire. The accidental release of natural gas during construction filled combustible concealed spaces and ignited; the gas-fed fire vertically spread to the third floor; twenty-one civilians and two firefighters sustained injuries.

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On 10/30/1971 a jumbo floating restaurant fire killed thirty-four in Hong Kong.

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On 10/30/1972 forty-five people were killed when two trains collided on Chicago's Illinois south side.

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On 10/30/1991 the “Perfect Storm” hit the North Atlantic. The fishing boat Andrea Gail and its six crew members were lost in the storm. Hurricane Grace move north and encountered a massive low-pressure system south of Canada. The disaster resulted in a best-selling book and movie The Perfect Storm.

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On 10/30/1938 Orson Welles of the Mercury Theater company causes a nationwide panic with his broadcast of "War of the Worlds" a realistic radio dramatization of a Martian invasion of Earth. The show began on Sunday, at 8:00 p.m. As many as a million radio listeners believed that a real Martian invasion was underway. The FCC investigated the program and found no laws were violated.

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On 10/30/1864 the town of Helena, Montana, was founded; four gold miners struck it rich at the appropriately named "Last Chance Gulch."

On 10/30/1735 President John Adams was born in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts.